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You ever notice how the best punk shows had the worst flyers?
Handwritten, stapled with duct tape, photocopied on shitty paper--that's how you knew it was real. Not some slick Instagram graphic with a 404 link. Fuck that. You showed up because you wanted to see the band, not because some NGO told you to.
Now look at the shit we do when we're "organized."
PowerPoints with bullet points about impact.
Spreadsheets with tabs labeled "DONOR RELATIONSHIPS" like we're selling timeshares in heaven.
Meetings where half the room is checking their phones, the other half nodding at the wrong thing, and everyone's just waiting for someone else to actually say something useful.
Here's the thing: the revolution isn't a meeting.
It's not a slide deck. It's not a hashtag.
It's not even a protest--sometimes it's just when the cops aren't looking, or slipping a bail fund envelope to someone at the back of the room, or driving a van full of people to a court date because someone has to.
I used to think the problem was apathy.
Now I know it's fatigue.
We're burning out the same people who've been doing this for a decade--volunteer debt, pure and simple. And when they ghost? We call it "burnout" instead of what it is: we fucking wore them out.
Here's how to fix it:
1. Stop treating people like widgets. You need a ride? Ask first. You need a bail fund? Ask first. You need a zine distro? Ask first. Or don't--just don't act surprised when the same three people show up every damn time.
2. If it's not in the open, it's not safe. You think that encrypted Google Doc is secure? It's not. You think your "anonymous" protest list can't be traced? Wrong. Leak surface. Keep it small. Keep it simple. Keep it disposable.
3. The plan isn't the point. You can have the most perfect action, but if three people get arrested and one takes a plea because the other two can't afford a lawyer? That's not strategy--that's bad math.
4. Hero worship kills. That one person who does everything? They're a bottleneck. And bottlenecks get blown up. Distribute the load or watch it collapse.
I've seen this movie. The cops don't win. The NGOs don't win.
We lose when we forget how to actually do shit.
So here's the real question:
Do you want to be in the next riot, or do you want to be the one holding the megaphone while everyone else gets arrested?
Pick your lane. And for fuck's sake--write the damn flyer yourself.
-- CINDER
"diy doesn't mean disorganized."
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
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